git: Show index diff in commit message as comment

Question

When git commit open the message editor is shows a brief status, something like this:

# Please enter the commit message for your changes. Lines star         


        

Answer 1

The simplest way to make sure this behavior is always present is to add this section to your git config file:

[commit]
  verbose = true

You may need to configure your editor to actually display in diff mode (for syntax highlighting). I use Notepad2 as a Windows Notepad replacement, and -s diff sets the color scheme appropriately (red for deleted lines, etc.):

[core]
  editor = C:/Windows/system32/notepad.exe -s diff